golden string
by Mia-Zeklos
Summary: Rey, Ben, and the lessons learnt along the way.


**Notes: Written for day one of Reylo Week over on tumblr, namely _Nature_. The second day will probably be in some way connected to this one, honestly, because I just love this self-indulgent semi-au.**

* * *

Everything around her was so _loud_.

Rey had never really noticed it before she'd been taught how to pay attention, but now it was almost impossible to ignore all the life around her. Every little sound in her immediate surroundings – from the animals and birds in the trees to the wind in the forest and the river nearby _and_ the unmistakable sound of fingers tapping a message on a screen – were more than enough to distract her. The tapping, in particular, had been a greater challenge than anything else and she immediately noted the silence when it stopped. It wasn't just because it was a technically forbidden thing to have here – although that was a problem as well, despite her companion's supposed knight privileges – but mainly because of the answers it could bring.

"So?"

"Focus on the book, Rey."

"What did she _say_?"

"I'm going back to Hanna City, and then I'm leaving again. It's just for a few days." It sounded almost like an excuse and Rey could practically _see_ the indignation that accompanied it even without looking. It wasn't enough to stop her from grinning even harder. "My mother's going to be there for a while. It's a good time as any."

"And Han?"

"Maybe. Probably. I don't know if he's back home."

Finally concluding that focusing was a lost cause now, Rey sighed, reached out again and opened her eyes.

Ben was exactly where she'd left him, sitting cross-legged on the grass and staring intently at his datapad. The large piece of rock that she'd been supposed to take apart was still looming right above his head – it was a way to raise the intensity of the exercise for her, he'd insisted, and not actually dangerous at all, even though the purpose – reaching the book he'd managed to hide inside the stone and pulling it out – didn't require him to risk his life. Rey had yet to be convinced that it wasn't a terrible idea, but then again, he'd never claimed to be a good teacher.

A little over two years. That was how long had passed since they'd met on Jakku for the first time and he'd told her stories of things she had assumed were myths up to that point; the same time, minus perhaps two days had passed since they'd had a fight about her insistence that she couldn't wander off-world. What had eventually won her over had been the promise that one day, she might be able to find out what had happened to her parents precisely through the powers that Ben claimed she had.

It hadn't taken her long after arriving at Master Skywalker's Jedi Temple to understand that Ben was just a recruiter of sorts. He was Skywalker's first Jedi Knight and spent a decent portion of his time tracking down Force-sensitives on any planet that looked remotely promising. Despite that, he'd taken up quite a few of the responsibilities as Rey's teacher when she'd confided in him that she didn't want to be surrounded by children despite her inexperience. He wasn't always around, but he was always happy he did whenever he did stay for a while before going home again.

 _Home_ , Rey had learnt quite a while ago, was a complex word when it came to Ben's family. Despite consisting of a grand total of four people, it somehow managed to be scattered in every corner of the galaxy and that only seemed to make their rare meetings all the better. Rey had already met both Han and Leia separately, but this—

"You said I could come the next time you went back to Chandrila."

Ben finally looked up; a small, inquisitive smile curling his lips. "It's nothing special," he said, tossing the datapad to the side. "Just a planet like any other. And it's definitely not worth delaying your training over."

"You promised me a planet, remember?" Rey protested, the lesson entirely forgotten as she carefully lowered Ben's creation to the ground beside him. "An _inhabited_ planet, on which I could stay for a while. If it's just for a few days, it won't delay anything."

The smile had a hint of bribery to it now and he nodded towards the rock again. "Luke would let you come if you get this done."

"He wouldn't!" While Ben was generally easy to convince – he rarely resisted any new experience he was being offered – Master Skywalker took this seriously. He allowed his students to see their families occasionally, a practice that had apparently been forbidden before his time, but it wasn't all that simple.

" _No_ , he wouldn't," Ben conceded. "Not just like that. But I could convince him if you show development. Which you already show a lot of," he added hastily before she'd had the chance to open her mouth, "but this? It's an important part of your training. If you do it now, when you get back, you can finally start working on your lightsaber. And when you learn how to do _that_ —"

He was _proud_ of her, Rey realised. It was something she'd always known in a way – it was always there, in his congratulations when she pushed past yet another challenge and finished whatever project she'd been given, in his delighted laughter when she hugged him after every reunion, in the way he beamed at her when she knew she'd done a truly outstanding job. And now, when she was so close to getting what she'd wanted ever since she'd arrived here, it was still somehow a surprise how happy it made her that he might even be around to see it.

"—He'll knight me," Rey finished for him, the very thought of it too anticipated for her to let him finish.

"He'll knight you," Ben confirmed. "You've been doing amazing, Rey. All of that progress in just a year... You can do this. It'll stop being so complicated if you just look past the physical. Do it, and you'll get your inhabited planet."

Filled with determination all over again, Rey turned back to the rock. This wasn't an opportunity she wanted to miss.

It wasn't that she didn't love Devaron – she was still in awe of just how alive the planet was, even its most deserted places bursting with more energy than anything on Jakku had ever had – but the idea of the large, overpopulated cities that Ben described after his travels was just as tempting. And the idea of experiencing it with the same people who had showed her so much of the world already? It wasn't only tempting, but it was _irresistible_. She'd get to see all the places from Ben's childhood that he'd told her about, maybe fly the Falcon for a bit again; if she stuck around enough, she could even get to see the _Senate_ — it was a pity that Luke wouldn't come, really.

"After we're done there, Mother wants me to come with her to Hosnian Prime," Ben added, as if that somehow made the idea of the trip any less appealing and not even more exciting. "My father can fly you back here, if you want. He'll want to see Luke anyway."

Rey's heart sank. There was something in his voice that she'd come to loathe over the months; defensive and reluctant and just this side of sad. He wasn't trying to discourage her. He was saying goodbye. Even though they'd have some more time together, she'd always appreciated being given a warning, and that was what she'd get.

"For how long?"

"A few weeks, maybe a month," Ben shrugged. He was carefully avoiding her eyes now, picking aimlessly at the grass instead. "One of her colleagues has a son; particularly gifted in the Force for someone his age, apparently, but she's sceptical. Mother thinks that if _someone respectable_ comes to convince her, she'd end up giving the kid a chance as a Jedi instead of a politician."

"If she wanted someone respectable, why'd she send for you?" Rey hadn't meant to try and get back at him with insults, and it didn't seem to work anyway. All she got in return was laughter.

"Who knows? But if I make it, Luke will have a brand new student when winter comes, right on time for your ceremony."

It was another blow, although a softer one this time. Rey had never been particularly good at thinking about the future and now was no exception, the thought of searching for a new home once again making anxiety curl up low in her stomach like a virus. This, here, was where she belonged – no one had ever given her a reason to think otherwise. She wanted to see more of the galaxy, that much was true, but she didn't think she'd ever truly want to move on from her first, greenest planet yet.

"Will I have to leave the Temple?" It had to be asked despite the tremor in her voice and Rey only felt slightly better about it when Ben's eyes turned gentle.

"Rey." He reached out and cupper her hands between both of his, the gesture as careful as it was reassuring. "You can do whatever you like. After you're knighted, that is." His tone was lighter, clearly in an effort to break the tension. It wasn't overly successful. "For now— the book."

"How prosaic," Rey quipped. It was easier to recognise her own voice this time round, but it wasn't much of a difference. "All this talk of the future and we're back to lifting rocks."

"There's more to it than that this time." Ben got to his feet and then sat next to her, one hand on her forearm and the other on her shoulder to direct her movement. It was always easier for her to actually understand the spirit of whatever task she'd been given now if there was at least minimal physical contact between them – a phenomenon that even Master Skywalker had yet to figure out. "It's easy, really. Remember all of your first lessons? About how the Force connects everything in the universe?" Rey nodded and closed her eyes again without being prompted to. "It works the same way. It doesn't matter that the book and the stone are different in origin; you have all of it inside you to begin with. Can you feel it?"

She could. Rey didn't need to look to see these days; not when she could already picture it all in her mind. The planet, the jungle, the Temple and everyone inside it and Ben right beside her, and the energy brimming between it all, connecting the dots in a billion different ways. Even after over two years, she'd never really got used to the beauty of it.

"I can," she said, the words tight with the emotion she could never quite keep back. It was supposed to be just an exercise, another achievement to check off, but— the stone had started cracking, she could feel it, bit by bit until it revealed what she needed inside it. "It's right there."

"You see?" Ben's touch was more of an effort to ground her now and she honestly couldn't determine whether it helped or only served to make her focus on him even more. She was connected to everything around her, but it was this little point of contact that seemed to be the lynchpin and as much as she tried, she couldn't shake the idea off. It was a strange kind of connection, one they'd gradually realised they shared and it just made things that much more intense. "You don't need to know what the limits are to get past them when you're part of it all."

"Yes," Rey said and leant a bit backwards, further into his guidance. She didn't need it as much anymore, but it didn't matter – it was freely given to her either way. _This is what home is_ , she thought, this planet and this place and both of them in the middle of it. "I think I get it now."


End file.
